Today, the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame (PFHOF) and Riddell unveiled the 2018 Polynesian Bowl Riddell SpeedFlex helmet design. As the official protective equipment partner of the Polynesian Bowl, Riddell works closely with the PFHOF to develop...

The Bulldogs football program recently received a $10,000 Smarter Football Equipment grant through Riddell, an American sports equipment company best known for its football helmets. Principal Dwayne Dykes said the school found out they received this grant two days after Kelly informed him of the incoming shoes. “It was a good week,” he said. However, the person breaking the news may have aroused more excitement out of the football players than the gift itself. Louisiana native Peyton Manning, the former NFL quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos, delivered the news to the team in a video that was uploaded to YouTube on Oct. 10, starting off with a cheerful “Greetings Bulldogs.”

The San Antonio-area Pop Warner youth football league saw participation numbers fall almost 25 percent in 2016, almost matching the national trend that reached 35 percent. The downward slide ended this year. Local participation increased 3 percent, contrasting another hefty national dip of 15 percent. Representatives from Texas Youth Football & Cheer Association in San Antonio also reported no declines in enrollment. Stacy O’Dell, whose kids have been a part of San Antonio Pop Warner for five years, said it has “always been safety first,” citing the presence of either a paramedic or a nurse at every game. Riddell specialists also fit the athletes with helmets and educate the parents before each season begins.

A new addition of gear will help with concussion prevention and safety. Thanks to Crawford Memorial Hospital, The United Way of Crawford County and Bay Safety, county schools will receive new high-tech football helmets. It's a project that totals out to about $18,000. For Rawlings, the new helmets serve as another set of eyes for the training staff.

As the high school football season wraps up, the Omaha Public School District is taking a hard look at data collected from the high-tech helmets each of its seven teams started wearing this year. All OPS high school football teams began wearing the Riddell Speedflex helmets with InSite technology this fall. The helmets send off alerts each time they detect a hard hit. At the start of the year, coaches and trainers had no idea how often the helmets would send an alert. "I think the initial fear was that these sensors would go off quite a bit and that it would keep our coaches from coaching," said OPS supervisor of athletics Steve Eubanks. Eubanks said the feedback from coaches and trainers has been incredibly positive. "The helmets have been a tremendous tool," Eubanks said. "N0. 1, for just assessing the student."

Football may be America’s favorite sport, but it’s taken a bruising. Former NFL players’ posthumous diagnoses with the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, aka CTE, have spurred lawsuits as well as growing concerns about the safety of athletes who aren’t pros. We visited a Chicago-area helmet maker to see how it’s tackling the issue. You may not be able to notice the difference in the Bears’ new quarterback Mitch Trubisky, and the Bears aren’t saying anything about it. But one day soon, he’s going to hit the field wearing a new helmet – one made just for him. Trubisky is one of 130 NFL players who have ordered the latest in headgear from Riddell, according to the company headquartered in suburban Des Plaines. Riddell has deep roots in the Chicago area, reaching back to when John T. Riddell was coaching an Evanston high school football team in the early ‘20s and invented removable cleats.

Many schools nationwide are upgrading their football teams' helmets with impact sensors in an effort to lower the number of head injuries. According to the company's website, the Riddell InSite Impact Response System is a helmet-based impact monitoring technology designed to alert coaches and trainers when significant single or multiple impacts are sustained during a football game or practice. When a player is impacted, a five-zone sensor pad built inside the helmet determines the intensity.

The Springfield Middle School Bulldogs recently learned the team was one of 10 chosen as a winner of Riddell’s Smarter Football program, a news release said. The recipients of a $10,000 equipment grant, the team was notified with a congratulatory message from Riddell brand ambassador Peyton Manning.

One Arkansas school recently bought new football helmets with quite the advanced equipment. Lonoke High School purchased Riddell InSite Helmets for every 7th through 12th-grade football player. The helmets help monitor for potential concussions, with special sensors that'll alert coaches or staff members if a player sustained a hit within the 95th percentile of hits.

Kell Walker plays without fear, whether it’s running the football on the edge or dodging tacklers on kick returns. Yet Walker feels more protected than ever this season thanks to a switch to the latest Riddell helmet. Assisted by Army’s equipment staff, Walker was fitted with a safe helmet as a freshman last season. His head was too big for a medium helmet and too small for a large one. Director of equipment Nick Determan and his staff sought a helmet for Walker this season that was more advanced. When Riddell reached out and offered four of its Precision-Fit models to Army, Determan jumped at the opportunity.